Wild Hearts

Thanks to its unique mechanics (the Karakuri, the more or less permanent constructions fielded by the player), Wild Hearts manages to build truly lethal fights, in which the strategic use of resources and the study of the area really makes the difference. It manages to make exploration an active process, which passes through the customization of the environment and allows the player to really play a hunter at work, immersed in a world with fantastic traits. Action and RPG, in this case, are really interlaced. It's just a pity for the raw state in which it arrived at this debut, some stumbling blocks on a technical level (but the more serious ones have been solved) and a forgettable narrative part: elements that, in the middle of the action, can also lose weight, but that a high-end (price) game should still find a way to take care of it properly.

In theory, this is a massively entertaining game that introduces some unique twists to the monster-hunting formula. In practice, however, technical issues on PC continue to mar what should have been a slam-dunk hit.

Wild Hearts updates the hunting videogame catalog and proves that it is possible to create new franchises inspired by existing IPs. The only thing that separates success is the ability to create something with its own identity, and that's what Koei Tecmo did by delivering this new franchise to fans of the subgenre. Wild Hearts opts for a spiritualist theme that, properly contextualized, enriches the game world and gives a different purpose to the monsters, as well as to the playable character who has the trivial mission of saving the world. Despite the graphical and performance issues, it is always possible to contemplate the grandeur of everything, like weapons, creatures, buildings or even sights.

At its best, Wild Hearts feels like it's poised to give Monster Hunter a proper run for its money; but as it stands, it feels like the game is being held back from its true potential. What Wild Hearts does deliver is promise; in spades, and then some. It's already a great game, but with just enough improvements it could be something truly special.

Wild Hearts is a solid first step for Koei Tecmo's latest foray into the world of monster hunting, and while this isn't going to necessarily convert those who aren't already into the genre, it does provide great gameplay for those who want to pick up an alternative to Monster Hunter.

Wild Hearts is a good experience in the monster hunting genre without upsetting the usual standards, well established by the competition.

Wild Hearts doesn't just copy Monster Hunter, it also has plenty of good ideas, such as the changing environment and map installations. But the overall lack of polish and questionable balancing nevertheless proves to be unfortunate, and it still never manages to be as satisfying as its model. Whether it's the combat, the graphics, or the different systems of the game, the basics are there, but it's not quite accomplished enough to fully indulge in the pleasure of hunting big monsters.

There's potential in Wild Hearts. The building aspects alone add some depth to the exploration and combat aspects of the hunt, while the weapons feel right in a fight. There are many compelling reasons to give this a go: a drip feed of abilities, near-instant multiplayer with cross-play, and permanently affecting a player's instance. The sometimes-finicky building system can be an annoyance, while the lack of kemono variety is a knock, even if more beasts are promised later as free updates. The PC performance is what really drags down the game, and the lack of fixes combined with the game's high price tag are enough to hold off for now. On consoles, Wild Hearts is a fine counterpart to Capcom's offering, and it's worth checking out. PC players will want to wait and see if the game can make efficient use of the platform and hardware variety before jumping in.

Sublime combat can only do so much to carry a flawed building system, too few monsters and terrible performance.

Although WILD HEARTS puts up a valiant effort to capitalize on the success that Monster Hunter has found in the West these past few years, it still leaves a lot to be desired. The most disappointing aspect is how bogged down it is with technical issues that prevent a seamless online co-op experience. A lot of the joy in hunting monsters is being able to do it with friends. Despite featuring cross-platform play, I preferred to play WILD HEARTS alone rather than be bothered with the slow-downs that I encountered. It shows great promise with their weapon types and the upgrading mechanics, but ultimately WILD HEARTS feels like an unfinished product. I hope that the upcoming content updates can turn that around. In the meantime, I’d look elsewhere for getting that next hunt in.

Ultimately, Wild Hearts feels like it was made for a group of hunters. Playing solo isn’t beginner friendly, and is relatively time-consuming. While the gameplay and battles are enjoyable as a whole, combining building with tactical fighting, we couldn’t help but feel like the stutters and slow pace held us back from the fast-paced experience we looked for. Nevertheless, for any Monster Fan, new or experienced, this is a fantastic addition to the genre — although it doesn’t seem to have quite garnered a podium position just yet.